Case Study

Literature

Thousands 'have been waiting years for a house in Wales'

3rd November 2014

More than 2,000 individuals have been on the housing waiting list for more than ten years in Wales, according to a new report.The Welsh Liberal Democrats obtained this data through a Freedom of Information Request and it transpired that 8,596 have been waiting for more than five years for a place to call home, Wales Online reports. Such figures have led to the party calling for tangible targets to be put in place when it comes to building affordable housing, especially in light of the 2,096 who have been waiting for at least a decade. Cardiff Council was found to have the most number of people waiting for five years or more (1,297), while Caerphilly came top for those who had been waiting for more than a decade (375).Housing spokesman Peter Black said: "These figures are a stark reminder just how bad the housing shortage is here in Wales. 15 years of Welsh Labour in government has led to literally thousands of people waiting over a decade for a home." He said it was "simply unacceptable" that this large number of individuals had to "put their life on hold" until there was a suitable home available for them. A Welsh government spokesperson responded to this Freedom of Information Act by claiming that not only were the figures out of date, but also that more than £400 million was being injected into building affordable homes. In addition, he pointed out how £40 million of this was building one and two-bedroom houses in an attempt to provide for those badly affected by the bedroom tax. Furthermore, 6,890 affordable homes have been built so far during this Assembly term.